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Human Locomotion

Six million years ago, our
human ancestors preferred to live in trees, using their well-developed arms to
move them from branch to branch. When on the ground, these primates would
normally walk or run on all fours, quite unlike how we move today. When did all
this change? Fossilised footprints found
at Laetoli in Tanzania
prove conclusively that our human ancestors were walking upright some 4m years
ago, using just their hind legs. This
was a profound evolutionary development or mutation, showing that we were now
ground-loving creatures. The gradual physiological evolution of this new
posture saw the skull balanced on the top of the spine, which developed a slight
curve, while the hips became broader, the legs longer, the feet now have arches
while the big toe is aligned with the rest of the foot (unlike the thumb in the
hand). In other words, the adoption of bipedalism required a major anatomical
reconfiguration, in terms of the skeleton, the muscle attachments and the
posture. It is one of the defining characteristics of the human frame (rather
than that of all our other more ape-like relations) and cannot represent a
sudden change. In other words, humans are very clearly designed to walk, and
broadly speaking that part of our design has remained largely unchanged for
some 4m years.

From our evolutionary
perspective therefore, walking is normal. Sitting at a desk, on a sofa or in a
car for long periods is, by contrast, not what the human body is configured
for. As far as our physiology is concerned, such sedentary behaviour is
abnormal. Our bodies, like pet dogs, need to be taken out for a walk every day
and that’s a habit that needs to be embedded in urban children from the outset.
The school walk, rather than the school run, needs to become the social norm,
for example.

There are a number of social
and cultural factors that seem to militate against a more widespread adoption
of walking or cycling for such short and medium distances in towns, rather than
taking the car. Some of these have been
discussed by Colin Poole’s team during a study compiled by Lancaster University
in 2012 for the NICE. These include issues with the safety of local streets, an
especial concern for potential cyclists, but also for parents who would
otherwise by willing to see their children walking to school each day. But
perhaps the major issue is the current image of walking and cycling: urban
human locomotion needs to be rebranded as completely normal rather than as an
activity for a specialist group of keep fit fanatics.

Certainly there are major
town planning issues to be resolved and implemented if the over-dependence on
cars in urban areas is to be phased out. Measures include designated cycle
paths, well planted streets that are attractive for pedestrians,
traffic-calming measures around schools and other urban focii, and a clearly
unified network of greenways that consciously encourage human locomotion in all
its forms for journeys of differing durations.

The benefits for an urban
population of all ages provided by such simple, natural daily exercise can only
be reiterated: the savings to the National Health Service on its budget for
obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and for cardiovascular problems also make this an
attractive economic proposition. Human locomotion is one of the key
evolutionary determinants of our health: by making towns more attractive for
pedestrians and cyclists we all benefit, not least with cleaner air and less
noise pollution. It’s time we reinvented the foot.

References

Health & Social Care Information Centre
2011 Is the Adult Population of England Active
Enough?